Retailer Alcott & Andrews To Close Shops

NEW YORK — After failing to win creditors` support for a 90-day financing agreement, Alcott & Andrews, the retail chain that specializes in career apparel for women, said it would go out of business.

The New York-based retailer, which had attracted investments from several well-known companies and individuals, sought a $1 million loan from the First Bank of New York to buy inventory for the rest of the year.

But a committee representing about 90 percent of the firm`s unsecured creditors declined to approve the borrowing plan, forcing Alcott & Andrews to close its doors, said Michael Foreman, an attorney for Proskauer, Rose, Goetz & Mendelsohn, a New York law firm that represents Alcott & Andrews.

The retail chain, founded in 1984, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August.

At that time the retailer reported debt of $36.5 million and assets of $7.5 million.

Shortly afterward, it closed seven of its 12 stores, including those at 430 N. Michigan Ave. and in Oakbrook Center Mall.

Executives in the industry attributed the problems at Alcott & Andrews to over-expansion and oversized stores; too little variety in its merchandise; a penchant among professional women to buy their clothes in either department or local stores, and the recent 20-month softness in women`s clothing sales.